A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 124

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

124.

Whoosh! Whish!
As Ayla unleashed her ability, the barrier warped and twisted violently.
“Ugh… Ayla, stop!”
Kalen’s face contorted as maintaining the barrier became increasingly difficult.
In that moment, Ayla closed the distance to arm’s length, her lips curling into a sinister smile as she raised both hands high.
A sharp dagger gleamed in her grip—she must have drawn it moments before.
It seemed she intended to tear through the barrier with the blade, not content with mere wind.
“Kalen, evacuate The Purifier immediately.”
Ethan’s command came swift and sharp.
Crunch—
In the same instant, several jagged ice pillars erupted from beneath Ayla’s feet.
She scowled ferociously and retreated with practiced speed.
Yet with each step backward, more ice pillars shot upward in relentless succession.
Before anyone could react, Ethan strode beyond the barrier’s edge.
“Oh, brother! Wait just a moment…!”
Everything happened so instantaneously that there was no chance to stop him.
Ayla and Ethan clashed immediately after.
“Don’t interfere!”
Remarkably, Ayla held her own against Ethan, an S-rank Awakener.
Newly formed tornadoes swirled around her with ferocious intensity.
Ethan froze them one after another, launching countless icicles toward Ayla in return.
She deflected them with wind, then seized the opening to swing her dagger.
In the blink of an eye, Ethan conjured a long ice spear to block the strike.
Clang—!

90%

I watched Ethan’s head anxiously, my eyes darting upward repeatedly.
The Magi Barrier was so close that his rampage meter was climbing at an alarming rate.
‘What if he loses control completely?’
Just as I was debating whether to stop Ethan now, Kalen urged me forward desperately.
“We need to leave, Princess!”
“But….”
“Where are you going, Kalen! I have to protect my father!”
At that moment, Walter stepped in front of us.
Kalen glared at him sharply.
“Move aside.”
“Do you see your sister rampaging? At this rate, Acarna Castle will burn to the ground and collapse! Why aren’t you expanding your defensive barrier right now!”
“And whose fault is all of this!”
Even amid the chaos, Walter’s concern for the castle’s survival made Kalen explode.
“What exactly did you do to my sister!”
“I merely helped Ayla awaken, just as you awakened when you were exposed to the Magi Barrier as a child!”
“Don’t you remember Mother died because of that incident?! How could you deliberately turn an innocent person into a Corrupted One! I didn’t even know…!”
Kalen, who had been grinding his teeth and suppressing his fury, asked as if suddenly realizing something.
“Did you deliberately expose other children to the Magi Barrier too? To turn them into Awakeners?”
“The probability is higher before secondary maturation sets in, so….”
Walter stammered out an excuse.
“In any case, the Purifier came and they all turned out fine, didn’t they?”
“What if the Purifier hadn’t come! And they became Corrupted Ones again anyway—what exactly is ‘fine’ about that!”
Kalen’s face twisted savagely as he shoved Walter.
“Move. From today on, I’ll live as if I have no father.”
“What, what did you say! You brat! Everything you’ve been living comfortably in the Capital is thanks to me… Cough!”
Splurt!
Walter suddenly vomited blood.
A sharp icicle had pierced through his chest and protruded from the other side.
“Father!”
Kalen gasped in shock.
He barely caught Walter as he collapsed limply.
“Finally…!”
Beyond that, a circular hole appeared in the defensive barrier.
Through it, Ayla’s cackling laughter seeped in.
“Ahahaha! He’s finally dead! He’s finally dead!”
Was killing her own father such a joy to her?
She bounced in place, laughing like a madwoman with unhinged delight.
Standing before her was Ethan, his face helpless.
It seemed the icicles he had created were used by Ayla to pierce Walter.
He had no chance to act—Walter simply expired where he stood.
“Ah, Father…!”
Kalen stood frozen, his mind too scattered to properly wield his ability.
Having finally achieved her objective, Ayla turned and fled without hesitation.
Ethan immediately moved to chase after her, but in that instant.
Boom―!
A section of the castle walls collapsed directly in front of him.
Thanks to his quick retreat, he escaped unscathed, but the delay allowed Ayla to slip away.
Rumble, rumble, crash―!
The castle walls were merely the beginning.
The fortress, consumed by the inferno, began to crumble in earnest.
“Argh! R, run!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Those who had been attempting to extinguish the flames screamed and scattered in panic.
Yet the debris of the castle walls had firmly blocked the castle gates.
‘What do I do?’
At this rate, everyone would either burn to death in the flames or be crushed beneath the collapsing structures.
As I anxiously gnawed my lower lip, desperately searching for an escape route.
“Damn it.”
Ethan cursed under his breath and suddenly raised both hands.
His lake-blue eyes flashed with an otherworldly gleam as he prepared to unleash his ability.
Crack!
In that same instant, the multiple tornadoes that had been wildly swirling the flames froze solid.
Crackle, crackle―.
But that was not all.
Intent on freezing every last flame engulfing the castle, the biting cold radiating from Ethan expanded without end.
The roaring inferno transformed into ice in mere moments, and white frost clung to the ground and buildings.
At last, the fire ceased. However.

96%

His rampage index rose to a dangerously critical level.
He ceased his ability and approached me directly.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine. But….”
“….”
“I’m bleeding from my nose, brother.”
Ethan flinched and wiped beneath his nose with his hand.
Dark blood stained his pristine white gloves.
Despite being a precursor symptom of rampage, Ethan didn’t seem particularly alarmed.
“…I suppose I’ll need to undergo purification.”
“I’m fine. Return to the Capital at once.”
“I’ll go with you.”
He shook his head.
“Someone must hold back the demons if the Gate opens.”
“If you use your ability any further now, you might rampage.”
“If I undergo purification, when I’ll awaken is uncertain. All I can do is endure until reinforcements arrive.”
We were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Even if I submitted to purification as he suggested, there would be nothing we could do if the Gate ruptured while he slept.
Neither Kalen nor I were offensive ability users.
“Sephiroth is looking for you, Young Lady.”
It was then.
A familiar voice tinged with metallic resonance reached my ears.
I turned my gaze toward the sound, and there stood Ayla—whom I thought had fled moments ago—having returned just a few paces away.
“…Ayla.”
“Come with me.”
She smiled brightly and extended her hand toward me.
“Step back, Edith Blake.”
Ethan positioned himself in front of me.
She merely shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ve achieved my wish, so it doesn’t matter if I use my ability until I die.”
“….”
“Or rather, since I’m already dead anyway, it shouldn’t matter, right?”
Ayla spoke with bitter self-mockery.
As I suspected, the Sephiroth Sect was undoubtedly behind her acquisition of this ability.
I watched her with cautious eyes, and Ayla added quietly.
“But it seems like neither you nor your brother will be safe…Won’t it be difficult if you both rampage?”
“….”
“By the way, like that man Ebben, your purification won’t work on me either. I’m neither a true Awakener nor a complete Infected.”
She seemed to be referring to the Space Ability User.
I already harbored doubts about whether someone like Ayla could even be purified, and now this was a setback.
‘So she has to live like that? For the rest of her life…?’
Now I finally understood why she had gone mad trying to kill her biological father.
There was no way to return to her former self.
I stared at her with wavering eyes before finally asking.
“…If I follow you and meet Sephiroth, who guarantees my safety?”
“I couldn’t say. If he wanted to kill you, wouldn’t he have attempted assassination rather than kidnapping?”
“….”
“He also said that if you still refuse, you should open another Gate.”
At the ensuing threat, I furrowed my brow.
As if Gates weren’t opening and closing enough, now I had to open another one.
It was completely insane.
‘I suppose I have to face him eventually anyway.’
Perhaps I should have simply gone along when the Space Ability User attempted the kidnapping.
He was searching for me urgently, and I was equally curious.
How did he know about my original life?
“Don’t go, Edith Blake.”
Just then, noticing my hesitation, Ethan seized my arm.
“…I’ll just hear what he has to say and come right back.”
I tried to persuade him calmly.
For now, I had no choice but to follow Ayla and meet Sephiroth.
“If another Gate opens, Acarna might disappear from the map entirely.”
Yet Ethan’s expression remained utterly resolute.
His grip on my arm tightened steadily.
“I don’t want to stop you by using my ability.”
“….”
“Go to the Capital at once with Kalen. That’s an order.”
A sigh escaped at his firm tone.
Why did things always unfold this way between Ethan and me?
Even when I tried to speak reasonably, it never ended well.
“…Brother.”
I was tired of arguing back, asking if there was any other way.
So I.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
I grabbed his hand that held me and forced it away with irritation.
“You’re not the only one with an ability.”
“You…!”
Whoosh—!
He tried to pull his hand away urgently, but emerald light burst forth first.
His blue eyes, wide with shock, slowly closed.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————